Moonstream's 75g re-build reef; lets get it right this time!

[Moonstream]

my hard coral tank has failed in a mass of cyano, and I have given up the idea of having an SPS/LPS reef. I am trying something new. a softy/mushroom/ect dominated tank.

first, the equipment (most of which I already have).
48" 8 bulb (only 6 bulbs working) nova extreme T5 fixture
30g AGA tank with acylic baffles (sump; finally finished it!)
octopus NW200 skimmer
mag 9.5 return pump
3 koralia #3 PH's (probably will only use 1 or 2)
2 koralia #1 PH's (going to put these behind the rocks)
eggcrate/PVC elevation/ frame for rockwork (still have to make/ buy eggcrate)

the DT will be BB, but there will be a 4" sand bed in the fuge along with about 10lbs or rock and some cheato and eventually other macros as well (including some mangroves).

thought I would add some pictures of what the tank looks like now.

I am going to try to get everything up and running this weekend. my plan is as follows. hopefully I will have water back in the tank by monday.

 

[prattreef]

It looks like you do need to start over, but just to be clear about the problem, it appears to be a Dinoflagellate bloom and not cyanobacteria that has plagued your tank. This is of course harder to deal with, but you should put your research efforts there to help prevent it from occurring again.

 

[Moonstream]

thanks. lets hope it actually works this time!

 

[aznt1217]

Give a UV Sterilizer a shot?

 

[Moonstream]

since that pic, I did a 30g water change and the algae receded a lot. I have some updates. right now the tank is completly empty without any water in it. my camera is broken so no pictures.

all of saturday, I moved everything from the tank into holding tanks. fish are in a 29g, corals are in a 20L, and rock is cooking in a 30g rubbermaid.

today, I had the wonderful task of removing sand from the tank and getting it looking like new. fun, right?

still need to get the plumbing done and then leak test and move over all my fish and coral. doing the plumbing tomorrow night, and then leak testing tuesday and hopefully will have rock and water back in my weds. and by next week all my old fish and coral will be moved back over.

will work on gettig some pics.

 

[h20 freak]

Ok but what are you doing to prevent this from happening again?

 

[Moonstream]

not sure if I said this yet, but I have already isolated the cause(s). it was from mostly nutrient problems; I didnt do enough water changes, and left quite a bit of detritus to rot, I overfed, and I stirred up the DSB covering the bottom of my 40g fuge. also, the sump/fuge became a detritus trap were everything decompsed and it wasnt very good.

so, I have some very exciting updates! I HAVE WATER AND ROCK IN THE TANK!!! yay! I finally got all my rock moved over after a week of cooking it. there is very, very little old algae, except on the rocks that I recently cured (very few rocks, all of which are small).

I am really, really excited; going to get the four fish and probably the coral moved over tomorrow, and will get some updated shots ASAP!

 

[mcnuggget]

try it without using tap water this time.

 

[Moonstream]

mcnugget, I havnt used tap water since two years ago, on my first tank, which wasnt even supposed to be a reef (we all know how that goes). I have been using distilled water for the last year and a half, and recently got a filter, which I have been using for about the last six months. The filter is what my LFS uses, what they recommended, and they have no algae issues. I trust them, suprisingly (I usually ignore everything LFS's tell me, but these guys tend to know what they're tlking about).

anyways, another update! I am sick today (mild fever/cold) and took the time off to intro my fish/corals to the tank. put them in the tank at 8, and most are at least partially open (including some zoas and palys that barely ever open)!!!!

the fish are all swimming happily around, and the shrimp if crusing the rocks. have to get batteries for my (crappy, old) camera, and then can take some FTS's.

 

[Moonstream]

I feel like Im talking to myself, but thats okay, because I have actuaql updates this time, with pictures!

I have a full system shot until I can get a real FTS tomorrow

I also got some new coral!! yay!

first up is the blue with green mouth favia brain

next is a cabbage leather

and finally, my ridge coral. pink/purple and green

not the best pictures, but they should hold everyone off for now! and I have some macro shots of my old coral

 

[m'akoyPINOY]

it is definitely looking better than before!i see that you don't have sand.

 

[Moonstream]

yeah, I was planning to stay BB for this tank, but Im really missing my sand (and so is my yellow wrasse). Ill probably end up getting some more around chistmas.

 

[duke62]

what happened to no lps and sps this time

 

[Moonstream]

what LPS/SPS *says while hiding coral behind back*

hehe, I wasnt planning to get any hard corals for a few more months, but the LFS had 3 frag tanks chok full of 20 and 30 dollar frags. I fell in love with the favia, and have never seen a ridge coral before, so I HAD to get them. that, paired with the fact that the only softies they had were more then 60 bucks each, and werent what I was looking for, I decided against it.

the ridge and favia were 30 each, and the leather was 20. next time I go though, I WILL be getting softies. my plan is to get a leather and a kenya tree or colt coral next time I go, along with a pair of clowns (either skunk, occy or clarkii) and possibly a BTA.

 

[Moonstream]

oh, and when I said no LPS/SPS, I really meant the tank wouldnt be dominated to them. I do want a few, just because of the bright colors they give the tank.